Two years ago, Disney announced that it would be investing $1.5 billion into Epic Games, part of an effort to create a “new persistent universe” that would feature Disney’s own characters and stories within games and experiences designed by Epic, the makers of Fortnite.
Two years later, it appears that the first major piece of that partnership will see the light of day, and, according to a new report from Bloomberg, it’s a Disney-themed extraction shooter.
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Following some massive sweeping layoffs, as well as the planned shutdown of multiple modes, Epic Games is hoping that its partnership with Disney will be enough to revive the brand. That revival will happen as soon as November, with the first project being released.
Extraction Shooters Are Massively Popular, And Epic Is Trying To Cash In
It’s described as a “shooting game” that is similar to Arc Raiders, except in this case, replaces the soldiers with Disney characters that will have to fight their way out until they can reach an extraction point. In other words, it’s Disney Raiders.
However, as ambitious as the project sounds, it apparently hasn’t sat well with internal reviewers. Per Bloomberg, those who’ve played the game expressed that it isn’t very original. Others believe Epic can nail things before its launch.
In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Liz Markman, the senior director of global communications at Epic, said the report is “not reflective of the ambitions of the Disney collaboration. We are building a new games and entertainment universe of Disney experiences.”
There are two other titles in the pipeline, per the report, though the second title received equally mediocre internal reviews. Resources for a third title were reallocated over a timeline issue.
Whether all that is enough to revive both the Fortnite brand or Epic Games as a whole remains to be seen. Extraction shooters are very popular, but the market has several titles available, including one that just released a month ago in Marathon.
Is the Disney brand enough to convince people to play that version? That’s what both sides are hoping.
- Released
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September 26, 2017
- ESRB
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T for Teen – Diverse Content: Discretion Advised, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
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